Weather

Airlines & Airports Brace for Hurricane Ian

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Courtesy The Weather Channel

Updated Tuesday, September 27, 2022

Hurricane Ian is causing airports to close and airlines to cancel flights and offer passengers travel waivers.

Orlando International Airport (MCO) plans to stop commercial operations at 10:30 am on Wednesday, September 28, until it is safe to resume flights.

Tampa International Airport (TPA) will suspend operations at 5 pm today.

Other airports in the region are closing operations Tuesday and Wednesday as well. Others are advising travelers to be prepared for canceled flights.

Airlines offering travel waivers due to Hurricane Ian

Many airlines have posted travel advisories and are offering no-fee travel waivers to passengers flying to, from, or through airports in Hurricane Ian’s path.

Alaska Airlines has a Hurricane Ian-related travel alert posted for 5 airports.

American Airlines has issued a travel alert for 20 airports in the western Caribbean and Florida, allowing customers whose travel plans are affected by Hurricane Ian to rebook without change fees.

Delta Airlines has a travel alert for 20 airports.

JetBlue’s travel alert for Hurricane Ian applies to travel through 8 airports.

The travel advisory for Southwest Airlines affects travel to and through a dozen airports.

And the United Airlines travel alert applies to 11 airports.

Of course, all this can change depending on what happens to the hurricane. So if you are traveling in the next few days, be sure to check with your airline to see if flights are operating.

Airports brace for Tropical Storm Elsa

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Courtesy The Weather Channel

Tropical Storm Elsa is expected to make landfall in Florida on Wednesday.

In advance of the storm, Tampa International Airport (TPA) closed on Tuesday afternoon and is reopening Wednesday, early than expected, at 8:30 am.

“TPA’s Operations team made the determination to open early after evaluating the airfield and airport facilities for storm damage from Elsa, which brought gusts of up to 41 miles per hour overnight.

The Airport did not sustain any damage from the storm. TPA’s roadways are clear, and the garages and rental car center are open.“

Airlines alerts/fee waivers for Tropical Storm Elsa

Several airlines have issued alerts and future booking options/fee waivers for Tropical Storm Elsa. Including:

American Airlines – Alert covers travel to/from/through these cities:

  • Charleston, South Carolina (CHS)
  • Fort Myers, Florida (RSW)
  • Gainesville, Florida (GNV)
  • Hilton Head, South Carolina (HHH)
  • Jacksonville, Florida (JAX)
  • Key West, Florida (EYW)
  • Sarasota / Bradenton, Florida (SRQ)
  • Savannah, Georgia (SAV)
  • Tallahassee, Florida (TLH)
  • Tampa, Florida (TPA)

Delta Air Lines The alert covers flights to/from/through Tampa (TPA),Fort Meyers (RSW), Key West (EYW), and Sarasota (SRQ)

Here are the links to the Elsa-related travel alerts for Frontier, JetBlue, Spirit Airlines, United Airlines .

Airlines offering heat waivers & banning pets from cargo

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A heatwave in the Pacific Northwest and some other parts of the country is adding another challenge to air travel as we head into a holiday weekend.

As a result, some airlines, including American Airlines and United Airlines, are offering fee-free travel waivers. And Alaska Airlines has put a ban on pets traveling as cargo to and from more than a dozen cities until at least after the July 4th weekend.

Here are some of the details, and useful links to policies as of Monday evening, June 28:

Seattle-based Alaska Airlines is ‘pre-canceling’ some flights and has travel advisories posted for many cities experiencing heatwaves, including Burbank, Fresno, New Orleans, Ontario, Palm Springs, Phoenix, Portland, Redmond, Sacramento, Seattle, Spokane, Texas, and Tucson.

And while Alaska Airlines isn’t offering change fee waivers as of Monday evening, it is pre-canceling some flights.

“While we never want to let our guests down, only a small fraction of our flights have been pre-canceled and we are doing our best to re-accommodate those guests,” the airline said on its website, “

And, because of the heat, through July 7, Alaska Airlines is not accepting animals for travel in the baggage departments to or from most of the affected airports listed above. Ticketed pets are still permitted to travel in the cabin with their owners.

Waivers offered by American and United Airlines

American Airlines’ change fee waiver offer is in effect for ticketed travelers through June 29 for trips to, through, or from the cities below. The airlines’ website notes that this information was current as of June 25, 2021, so if record-breaking heat continues in these areas, the waiver could be updated or extended. Check the website for details.

  • Billings, Montana (BIL)
  • Boise, Idaho (BOI)
  • Bozeman, Montana (BZN)
  • Eugene, Oregon (EUG)
  • Eureka Arcata, California (ACV)
  • Idaho Falls (IDA)
  • Jackson Hole, Wyoming (JAC)
  • Kalispell, Montana (FCA)
  • Medford, Oregon (MFR)
  • Missoula, Montana (MSO)
  • Portland, Oregon (PDX)
  • Redmond / Bend, Oregon (RDM)
  • Reno, Nevada (RNO)
  • Sacramento, California (SMF)
  • Salt Lake City, Utah (SLC)
  • Seattle, Washington (SEA)
  • Spokane, Washington (GEG)

The heat-related travel waiver on United Airlines also currently covers travel booked through June 29 and includes this long list of cities:

  • McKinleyville, CA (ACV)
  • Boise, ID (BOI)
  • Bozeman, MT (BZN)
  • Cody, WY (COD)
  • Eugene, OR (EUG)
  • Everett, WA (PAE)
  • Great Falls, MT (GTF)
  • Helena, MT (HLN)
  • Idaho Falls, ID (IDA)
  • Jackson, WY (JAC)
  • Kalispell, MT (FCA)
  • Medford, OR (MFR)
  • Missoula, MT (MSO)
  • Moab, UT (CNY)
  • North Bend, OR (OTH)
  • Pasco, WA (PSC)
  • Portland, OR (PDX)
  • Redding, CA (RDD)
  • Redmond, OR (RDM)
  • Reno, NV (RNO)
  • Sacramento, CA (SMF)
  • Salt Lake City, UT (SLC)
  • Seattle, WA (SEA)
  • Spokane, WA (GEG)
  • Twin Falls, ID (TWF)
  • Vernal, UT (VEL)
  • West Yellowstone, MT (WYS)

Winter storm Xylia dumps snow, cancels flights

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Snowflake

Winter won’t go away just yet. Winter storm Xylia wreaked havoc with roads and air traffic in the midwest over the weekend. More than two feet of snow fell at Denver International Airport as of 6 p.m. on Sunday evening.

More than 2000 flights in and out of DEN were canceled over the weekend, with hundreds more already canceled for Monday.

Here are some of the images DEN shared on Twitter on Sunday

If you do have a flight scheduled through DEN or other airports in Colorado, Wyoming and Nebraska, here are links to the storm-related travel alerts and flight change rules posted by airlines.

Alaska Airlines

American Airlines

Delta Air Lines

Frontier Airlines

JetBlue

Southwest Airlines

United Airlines

Airports, airlines, travelers brace for winter weather

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Tough traveling this Thanksgiving

Severe winter storms are already wreaking havoc with Thanksgiving travel plans across the country.

Denver International and many other airports are taking out their snowplows and de-icing gear and advising travelers to be sure to check the status of their flights before leaving home.

Many airlines are offering fee-free flight changes, waivers on fare differences for rebooked flights and refunds left and right.

In some cases, they are encouraging passengers to switch to flights leaving a day or two early.

At 9 p.m. on the west coast, these are some of the airlines issuing travel alerts. No doubt there will be updates and more alerts by morning and over the next few days. So, if you’re scheduled to fly anytime over this holiday, be sure to check your airline’s website and sign up for alerts about your flight.

American Airlines has a travel alert for passengers scheduled to fly November 27 to/through or from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

Delta Air Lines has travel advisories posted for flights to, from or through Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport on November 27 as well.

Frontier Airlines has canceled many flights through Denver and Colorado Springs, CO on Tuesday, November 26. Advisories for rebooking and refunds are on their site.

JetBlue has posted travel alerts for flights in and out of Denver International Airport on Tuesday, November 26.

Southwest Airlines is warning customers that flight schedules may be “disrupted,” as in delayed, diverted, and/or canceled on Tuesday, November 26 in Denver and on Tuesday and Wednesday, November 26 and 27 through Minneapolis/St. Paul.

United Airlines’ winter weather alert also applies to flights in and out of Denver on Tuesday 26.

Bottom line: even if the weather looks great where you are – or where you’re headed to, bad weather in other parts of the country can still disrupt your travels. Check flights, check again and, as always, pack lots of patience when you go to the airport this time of year.